


Promise

by LightFawn



Category: VALORANT (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, Slight Smut, TW: Panic Attacks, because I'm all about subtlety, slight angst, tw: animal attack, tw: violence and blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:48:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightFawn/pseuds/LightFawn
Summary: Jett is sent to terminate an objective and found a pretty familiar face instead.
Relationships: Jett/Skye (VALORANT)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'm immensely grateful for you to take your time and read this; hope you're having a good night/day/evening
> 
> Come hang out at twt @23fawn where I rant about gay stuff and random headcannons.

Twirling her finger around the exceedingly long cable, she hummed a melody she couldn’t really remember but anyway completed with whatever noise that made sense; the worn out plastic seemed about to give in after too many months of use, but the earphones kept doing their job and that was enough for them to make the trick. With her knees pressed against her chest and her cheek resting on them, she looked through the window, watching the landscape slowly morph from old and dying trees to whiter fields, filled with mist and the eventual sunray slipping through a dense layer of clouds.

She hated the cold but could get used to this kind of place.

“We’re about to reach your destination, I’d recommend you wear the appropriate gear before proceeding.” The cold voice of the driver announced, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel with impatience; she recognized the body language, and the wandering looks to the near space around them. The man was afraid. “You have seventy-two hours to terminate your target, if you’re not on the marked point by then, the chopper will leave without you.”

Sparing a last innocent glance to the landscape around her, she nodded, and started taking off her sweater to put on the tactical gear supplied by the association; silently grateful of the respect the man had to not look at her through the mirror, she ended with her boots and tightened an emergency gun, hidden thanks to said footwear and the loose pants, icy white and grey providing her the cover she’d need on the open.

“Be careful.” The man surprisingly said. “No one really knows how the target radiance manifests itself so be ready for everything.”

It seemed like the words left his mouth only for him to feel less guilty if something happened to her and Kingdom lost its most valuable asset. And she just nodded her understanding of the message as the vehicle door closed behind her, leaving her alone in the middle of nowhere, with a storm coming soon and a target to eliminate she didn’t know anything about.

With a huff, covered by the mask over her mouth, Jett started running up the hill in order to get a clear view of her surroundings before picking a right moment to strike; while not the most patient asset, it had been proven that her efficiency in combat had indeed increased after the new appliance on her bloodstream. It seemed to be easier for her to take a single focus instead of getting distracted by every movement around her, and though it had been painful in that moment, the results had been… Favorable.

Her legs barely burned as she dashed across the tree lines, covering a great expanse of terrain before settling in behind a pine tree. Pressing herself against the surface, she blended in perfectly with the snow-covered view, and from that moment, she had to look until she found a settlement.

The only thing she saw after a couple hours was a cabin, and a rabbit.

The good part was that there was smoke coming from the cabin, the bad part was that it was tremendously suspicious for such a dangerous radiant to be in such a place, without any safety measures or any kind of traps nearby. The paranoid part of herself of course told her to keep her eyes open since this wasn’t just any kind of retrieval mission, her commanding officer had put an emphasis on the corpses that came back from previous units; she hadn’t been permitted to see the aftermath of every attack, but she had been told it was an absolute mess.

She would’ve been lying if she told everyone she wasn’t feeling the thrill of the hunt in that moment.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Jett waited to see any kind of movement, which was a hard feat considering the far too short effect of the drug and she was already starting to feel the ghost of an upcoming itch. With a quiet groan, she slid down the tree trunk and gracefully landed on the snow before holding the rifle properly on her hands and starting to run to the next hill, this time taking care of every step since she was closing up the distances.

The birds were starting to distract her.

And something was bugging the back of her mind by the time she had the cabin on sight, and she could look through the scope with ease.

There was only one person inside the small wooden building, and they seemed to walk back and forth doing something, making it far more difficult for Jett to get a clear shot. She tried positioning herself closer, and soon she could already see clearly the insides of the place; it didn’t had anything out of the ordinary, and not a single crate signaling the presence of radianite nearby which confused her since her commander already told her the target had acquired some sort of equipment by stealing it from a previous unit.

Her thoughts again, interrupted by the chirping of birds and a second later, the cabin door opening itself.

She held her breath and brought the rifle up, ready to shoot.

A tall woman came out, clad in a thick coat and wearing snow boots while she carried a bucket outside and placed it next to one of her windows. Jett frowned at the sight, she had of course learnt about the importance of never underestimating an opponent, but the woman could’ve been easily a local hermit carrying on with her life.

That was, at least, until the woman turned in her direction, still a long distance away, and stared directly into her scope.

Jett was startled, but she didn’t pull the trigger; she just kept observing, as the woman simply breathed in and closed her eyes, like she was relaxing outside.

Had she really seen her? Or was it the paranoia again?

The feeling on her stomach sank as she realized how silent the forest had become.

_Shit._

She should’ve seen it before.

After all, birds didn’t linger in cold places.

Swallowing heavily and pressing her cheek onto the butt of the gun, she convinced herself to pull the trigger. As she pressed her index finger on it, she had half a second to react.

And she failed, tackled away by some kind of animal, which threw her rifle away; in a desperate attempt to keep the animal’s jaws away from her neck, she rolled back and quickly took the knives from her holsters, ready to pounce back at the animal. Throwing one of them on the side of the beast, she found herself surprised to see how it didn’t hurt it, just ignited a spark and bright leaves fell from it. The animal snarled at her, taking another step forward as Jett threatened to attack once again.

It was definitely an effect to radianite exposure, nothing she had ever seen before, but definitely possible.

Running to the side in an attempt to confuse the beast, the assassin kept throwing knives at it until she lost it in the foliage. Trying to steady her heart, she tried to keep her steps quiet and even her breath, lowering her body as much as possible to avoid being detected; seconds later she saw the back of the animal, its head down as it seemed to sniff the snow trying to pick up her scent. Getting her last knife ready, she darted forward.

Missing the animal entirely as it disappeared in thin air.

“Watch out!” A voice boomed from between the trees.

Jett didn’t got to react before the sharp pain enveloped her ankle and her momentum was broken as she fell in the snow, gasping in pain as she quickly looked back and saw the bear trap with a vice grip around her leg; desperately trying to pull it off, she trashed against it and clawed as much as she could without any real effect. In panic, she looked around for any kind of gun but found none as the figure between the trees ran towards her.

It was the woman, and she was raising her hands to show she meant no harm.

Bullshit.

Trying to kick the nearing woman, Jett let out another gasp and saw the blood starting to stain her uniform and the snow underneath her; she tried to crawl away in a desperate attempt to put some distance, but she found herself between the beast and the woman again. This time the animal only watched her quietly, just standing there, growling softly in warning.

“Please stay still or you’ll tear it apart would ya?”

The thick accent confused Jett, and she would’ve definitely commented on if if it wasn’t for the pain that had her curling and uncurling her body until the woman and the beast got to her; always showing her hands, the woman got down on one knee and signaled for her to keep still as she examined the bear trap.

“The hunters are apparently unable to learn simple things like marking their traps.” She sighed, and Jett kept looking around for any kind of weapon or rock she could use to dispose of the woman and call for reinforcements. “I think the safety thing it’s here, could ya please stay still so I can take this off?”

Jett looked at her in panic, muttering and cursing on her mother language; the beast had faded into nothingness again, and she felt helpless in front of someone she was supposed to have killed mere moments ago. Still, the woman took a firm grasp on her leg and twisted a piece of metal on the bear trap, successfully releasing the safety and easing the pressure on Jett’s leg. The woman clicked her tongue as she saw how the metal teeth sunk into the skin and gave Jett an apologetic look before taking the damn thing off in a single pull.

The Kingdom agent howled in pain, head falling back into the snow and the corners of her sights becoming darker as she passed out in the snow.

Light made its way through her eyelashes, barely noticeable as the orientation of everything changed and she felt her head hanging; she was lifted from the ground at some point but everything was so difficult to grasp, it was hard for her to focus and both her fingers and toes felt numb. The cotton in her mouth was of course an effect of the blood loss, but she had yet to feel the cold as the lighting in her surroundings changed and the cold of the snow and the air gave way to a much warmer and inviting environment. Like a ragdoll, her arms and legs swayed helplessly as she was moved around until she was placed onto something better; a grunt escaped her mouth as she was stripped from her boots and tactic pants.

“Easy there, you can feel that so that’s good.” The voice guided her back to focus, and her fingers tightened around the fluffy and warm surface. “I’m gonna need you to be a bit brave here, I need to clean this before I can do anything about it. Stay awake, would ya? I’m going to need you to say your name if you can.”

The cotton on her mouth made it difficult, even if she had nothing; she just shook her head and tried to move her arms around to support herself on something and sit up. The pain was still vivid on her senses, but her survival instincts were screaming at her to get away, making her heart beat faster and the adrenalin to pump on her veins.

“D-don’t touch me” She mumbled, and the woman poured something on her leg that made her hiss.

“Sorry for that.” The woman grabbed her leg again and pressed her fingers to the rest of it, seemingly trying to figure out if she had broken the bone. “You a radiant? Because if you’re not this is going to feel really weird and ugly for a bit.”

Frowning, Jett tried to roll to her side as she was able to open her eyes and see the woman holding onto her leg with one hand while the other had its palm looking up with a weird looking flower on it.

She was definitely a radiant, the one she was sent to kill.

Still, she nodded softly, making a point by making her arm glow and a sudden breeze to shake the wooden items the woman kept inside the cabin.

The woman sighed.

“Another one from Kingdom, huh.” She looked defeated for a second, but just clicked her tongue and the glow flourished from her wrist to the flower on her hand, making it bloom before it was placed on Jett’s wound. “You’ll be done in a bit and then we can try and be civil for a second before you try to kill me again.”

The glow became warmth, and the pain soon faded away as the deep gashes on her flesh started to close.

“Can’t really do anything about the scars.” She commented as both of them looked at the wounds closing.

Jett felt the energy coming back to her, and with it, the sharpness of her mind that kept her alert and looking around, once again trying to find something suspicious about the woman or any kind of motive tying her with Kingdom. But then again, it was just a simple cabin, a living one, with a bed, a couch and a stove; no tactical gear, no weapons and definitely no radianite crates.

“Who are you.” Jett’s hoarse voice asked, finally sitting up properly with her arms in a clearly defensive stance.

“The name’s Skye.” She introduced herself, giving Jett a nod before taking off the hat she was wearing, revealing wild red hair. “And your… Corporation has been hunting me forever, kind of annoying if ya ask me. Your turn, give me a name or I’ll have to make one up for you, and I have a feeling you won’t like being called Pebbles.”

“You’re a healer.” Jett noted. “That’s why they want you?”

“Huh?” The woman, Skye, frowned.

“How did you kill everyone else?” Jett demanded, moving back on the bed to make some space between them. “You’re not alone, are you?”

“Did they really sent you here without telling you anything?” An arched eyebrow and a sigh, and the woman got up, taking off her coat and hanging it next to the door. “You must be really devoted to them.”

There was something in the way she said that last sentence that made Jett sneer at her, face distorting in disgust as she realized she was indeed in the face of the enemy; the woman spared a glance in her direction and shook her head, chuckling softly. Taking a nearby chair, Skye sat and looked at her expectantly.

“I’m never alone, Jett.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyes shone in a bright green before the beast once again materialized on her side. It was then when Jett realized she had been watched the entire time she was coming; the rabbit, the birds and the beast, it was all this woman. Her radiance had allowed her to take control of most of the hill and Jett had been so blind she didn’t realize until she fell face first onto her trap. “And to clarify, it’s not Kingdom hunting me, I am hunting Kingdom.”

“And that includes me.” Jett realized.

“That includes you.” Skye confirmed “Only if you have the same intentions as them.”

“Which are?” Jett was growing nervous as the beast bared its teeth at her.

“Destroying every piece of land they touch.” Skye sat forward on her chair, placing her elbows on her knees as she seemingly weighed Jett’s intentions with her eyes.

The Kingdom assassin was inevitably reminded of the Venice incident with the bomb, and she visibly winced; it was one of her worst failures and the one that had cost her the biggest punishment inside Kingdom yet. The sole reminder of said moment had Jett panicking on the insides, but she kept the façade on, stretching her hand to grab her pants and put them on as innocently as she could before reaching for her boots. The redhead kept her eyes on her and Jett knew it, but didn’t give her any kind of clue about what she was thinking about.

“I just follow orders.” Jett tried, voice as cocky as she could make it sound. “And you’re still a target I have to take down.”

The woman sighed and leaned back on the chair, giving Jett the seconds she needed to really analyze the cabin and identify every possible way out; two windows and the door she immediately discarded since the woman was sitting nearby. The next thing was weapons, because of course, she could just throw anything to her and be done with it, but there was a big chance it’d would only give her a couple seconds before she had to run from the animals the woman summoned with her radiance.

She had to take her out quickly.

A fast glance to the place where the stove was, there was kitchen utensils.

Knives.

Not the Ion reactive ones she had left somewhere outside, but useful nonetheless.

“And here I thought I could be civil with one of you.” Skye sighed, slowly standing up and cracking her neck.

Jett found her opening and didn’t think twice when it happened.

Taking the momentum she got by dashing towards her, she twisted her hips and kicked her on the side, making the redhead stumble with the chair she had just gotten up from; the brief moment where she seemed to have lost balance was enough for Jett to make a run for a knife. Skye cursed under her breath and tried gathering herself quickly as the white-haired assassin pretty much threw herself through a window and started running away from the cabin. Stumbling through the chaos left on her cabin she reached for her coat and the flowers she left on her pocket.

“Time to hunt.” She whispered as she crushed the thorned flowers and light came from them.

Jett ran as fast as she could, trying to gain a distance from the cabin in order to go back on her steps and retrieve her guns since she was pretty much useless with just a knife to defend herself from a radiant far more powerful she had expected.

In frustration she realized she should’ve pulled the trigger sooner.

An off-putting sound pulled her from her thoughts as she ran to the last place she thought she saw her rifle, and she looked over her shoulder to see a bright light, taking the shape of a wolf following her tracks. Breathing faster, she darted through trees, changing directions to try and confuse the creatures following her until she caught sight of the blood trail she had left behind when she had gotten hurt.

She made a sound in relief when she saw the rifle laying there, in the snow, and she pretty much threw herself towards it, quickly reacting and turning around to take a shot on the bright wolf.

One shot and the thing disappeared.

Breathing heavily, she looked down to see the trails of footprints she’d left behind, that would be easily traced by the seemingly expert hunter; cursing again, she decided to climb up a tree and wait on the branches until the hunter appeared and she could take a shot. This time the finger was already on the trigger and she was holding her breath to take the shot as soon as she came.

A bird distracted her.

And a flash took her vision a second later.

Growling in adrenaline and rage, she dashed in the direction of the steps before she completely recovered her sights, knife in hand as the wind guided her to the target. She collided with the redhead and immediately threw herself on top of her, knife at the ready to pierce through her throat. Skye reacted and put her forearm in between them, but the white-haired woman was stronger than she had initially thought and it was difficult to keep the tip of the knife away from the skin of her neck. Trying to put her weight on it, Jett pressed the knife furiously until it pierced the skin, making the redhead hiss in pain and try to push her away with her legs showing itself to be futile once Jett held her secure with her own and smirked down at her, eyes shining blue in a bloodlust way too familiar.

“What did they do to you!” Skye screamed out, using as much of her arm strength to push the armed hands away from her neck.

Angry for not being able to get a clean stab on her neck, Jett quickly retreated her hand to try and get another stab, this time on the side of the redhead’s body; a murderous intent considering she knew how to make way for the knife to puncture a lung and let her out there, bleeding out of her mouth.

No one else would doubt her capabilities, because she’d be the one who murdered the radiant no one else could.

She would not be the weakling again, she would not be the little bird.

Jett started seeing red when the knife pierced the skin and Skye screamed in pain.

She would not be the little bird again.

Not again.

“HAWK” The redhead barked.

Jett’s blood ran cold and her eyes opened wide, vision getting clearer as a younger version of a redhead buried deep in her memories stared up at her in horror; her own hands burned and the knife on her hand felt like burning red iron. Screaming, the white-haired assassin threw a punch on her face, successfully turning her look away.

It hurt to be looked like that again.

“THAT’S NOT ME ANYMORE.” She howled. “I’M NOT A BIRD, I’M NOT A HAWK.”

The redhead, this time older, punched her back on the face and deep in her mind she wished the cracking sound was a twig and not her nose. Pushing her back, there was space between them once again, and Skye was holding her side while standing there in guard; Jett went to launch herself towards her again, but stopped dead on her tracks when it all clicked and the blurry face of the redhead hunter made sense.

She laughed, _because of fucking_ course it was her.

“Why won’t you just die…” Jett dryly said, cleaning the blood off her nose with the back of her hand.

“Because I promised you I wouldn’t.” The redhead replied, holding onto her side as blood ran through her fingers.

 _She did_ , the voice on Jett’s head said softly, followed by the sharp pain of a migraine growing closer. She shook the memories away and stumbled towards the woman, pushing her back into the snow far more easily than she would’ve expected; frowning, she looked into her green eyes questioningly.

“Why won’t you heal yourself?” She said, frustrated, moving one of the redhead arms with her foot.

“I can’t do it to myself, Hawk.”

“Don’t fucking call me that.” She snarled, trying to ignore how her insides screamed at her to remember, to do something about it.

The redhead started closing her eyes, the red circle around her body growing by the seconds as Jett looked down at her with a frown, wondering why it hurt so much to see it happen. With tears welling up on her eyes, the finest Kingdom asset kneeled besides her prey and reached forward with one of her hands, instinctually placing it on the wounded side of her target as the tears ran down her cheeks freely and the memories flooded back like a river.

“You promised.” She said in a sob, pressing harder on the wound.

There was still blood, but her breathing was getting slower.

“You promised.” Out of breath, Jett forgot her own name, pulling the woman by the arms towards her with all her strength, pulling and pulling until she managed to put her weight on her back and she ran.

Ran as fast as she could, fast as the training rooms; faster than the soldiers she saw in the morning. She ran faster than the soldiers who followed her back on Seoul, faster than the other kids on the facility; faster than the redhead that laughed when they sneaked through the labs. The pain on her brain was becoming more bearable as the pieces fit together inside, her own bloodstream pushing the venom away as she saw the cabin getting closer.

And after five years,

She prayed.

Her still trembling frame stood in the same position for hours after she was capable to drag her back to the cabin, doing what she could to keep her stable, or at least, breathing so she could understand why it was so important for her. The same chair she had tossed away before now stayed besides the bed, with Jett sitting on it, again pressing her knees to her chest in order to keep the warmth on the center of her body; for some reason, the fire on the stove didn’t seem enough to help her getting rid of the chills on her skin.

Placing her chin on one of her knees, Jett stared at the resting body of the redhead in curiosity; her eyes followed the lines of scars up her arms, that got lost under the shirt she was now wearing -for some reason, Jett couldn’t bring herself to let her lay there with the same wet clothes, soaked in blood she had worn before- and the freckles decorating her sleeping face, reminding her of the constellations she used to watch from the window of her unit back in the base.

Hiding under her clothes, Jett had also found a couple dog tags hanging from her neck; she kept them on her hand, absentmindedly playing with them after memorizing those names and numbers; their names and numbers.

Jett still didn’t remember when she had lost hers in the past.

But she indeed thought that Skye’s real name was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

The same thought she had five years ago.

Frowning and closing her eyes to push the pain of remembering away, the white-haired girl sighed, toes still numb after all the cold she had been exposed to. She ended up standing from the chair and pacing around in circles, casting glances through the windows and wishing that no upper ranks knew anything about her being there and doing… What ever the hell she was doing there, taking care of a target she should’ve let bleed out in the forest.

Her own paranoia ended up making her put the chair against the door and close all the curtains before she returned to the redhead’s side, delicate fingers hovering over her forehead to check on her temperature; she hoped she didn’t lose too much blood to make the damage irreparable, but she did look pale, so Jett went against her better judgement and laid beside her, holding onto her wrist and checking the rhythm of her heart while the sun set outside the cabin, drowning them into darkness.

Not quite sure how long she slept, the only certain thing for her was that she had indeed dreamt; it had been a long time since the last time she was capable of it, and, while it felt odd on the beginning, it ended up being weirdly comforting. Thanks to years’ worth of training and being put in critical situations, Jett had learnt how to not be obvious when waking up and had a talent to keep herself steady enough to appear still sleeping. She knew the woman besides her was awake, so told her the now active breathing and the soft contact of her breath against Jett’s forehead, indicating she was looking at her; curiosity was something inevitable, so she waited to see what would transpire if she kept feigning sleep.

“You’ve always been a mystery.” It came in a whisper, and Jett focused on remaining still to let her keep on that train of thought. “But your heart has always been so honest that not even yourself realize how much it tells of you.”

A groan of pain reminded the white-haired girl of the injury on Skye’s side, and while a part of her screamed at her to do something about it, she still wanted to see where the words would lead. A bit of shifting in the bed made her anxious, the warmth of skin making her own react in expectation; Skye placed her hand on top of hers, fingers tracing her own and the lines of scars left behind by her profession. The touch was gentle, no rush on her intentions besides that of need for closeness.

Jett would’ve melted into it if it wasn’t for the enormous confusion it triggered on her heart, and the sharp migraine that came with it to remind her of the inappropriate nature of their interactions.

“Please, open your eyes…” Skye asked softly, groaning as she shifted back in order to give her space enough for her to react and take or not the opportunity. “Look at me, I beg of you.”

The fire from the stove had been long extinguished with the passing hours, and the morning welcomed them with cold and wind colliding with the walls and surfaces of the cabin; at some point, in the middle of the night Jett had gotten up the close up the window she had broken while escaping, figuring out the makeshift solution provided by some planks and a piece of cardboard would bring to them the warmth necessary to not die while sleeping. So most of the lingering warmth of the fire was keeping them to end up being victims of hypothermia.

 _Still, it would need to be reignited again_ , Jett thought, or maybe made it an excuse to finally give in and slowly open her eyelids to reveal the peaceful expression of Skye looking back at her, with green eyes full of hope and questions she wouldn’t dare answer just yet.

“I’ll get the fire going.” Jett stated coldly, but not cold enough to be considered a threat. “Then you can answer why do I feel like this.”

A soft smile decorated the pale redhead’s face as she nodded softly, pointing at Jett on the direction where she kept the firewood and watched her quietly as the young woman made her way around her cabin, always attentive to her every movement and sound of discomfort; even as she knelt down to ignite the stove, she spared a glance on her way and acknowledged her look with a slight nod.

She was giving Skye the opportunity to explain the truth, and she was not stupid enough to let the opportunity slip away, to let her slip away.

When the cracking sounds were loud enough and the warmth started increasing on the small building, Jett looked at the watch on her wrist, telling her about the forty-eight hours she had left to figure all of it out; the memories, while still foggy, were more familiar by the second she spent without the serum flooding her system, but the everlasting need to keep herself under control made her still feel wary about the woman’s intentions.

“Ask away, Jett.” Skye said, voice groggy but expressive enough to let the kingdom asset notice the dragged out name she seemingly refused to accept but kept anyway in a sign of respect. “There must be a lot on your mind now, and I don’t want to stress you out while trying to figure out what to ask about first.”

“You know me.” Jett pretty much stated.

“Yes.”

“Before Kingdom?”

“While in there.” Skye said with honesty. “We slept on neighboring rooms, the same wing of the laboratories.”

“What did they want with you?” Jett asked, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

“To replicate what I can do.”

“We have healers.”

“Not that.” The redhead interrupted her, coughing softly and wincing when the pain shot through her body. “The trinkets, I can see through them; they wanted to see the possibility of me using more… Bigger trinkets. The idea was that of a hive, that moved coordinated enough for them to be lethal, and that’s kind of difficult when there’s more than one brain with different ideas.”

“They wanted you to control an army.” Jett noted, pulling the dog tags out of her pocket, and showing them to her. “That’s why your codename was Alpha, I assume.”

“It didn’t work, so they had to get creative.” Skye winced when the memories came and she was reminded of every experiment ran on the both of them. “That’s why we met; I wasn’t capable enough to control an already trained unit, so they thought a younger radiant could be a better option… Only if they were blank enough to be filled with information. You were younger so they thought the serum would be enough to soften you and let me into your mind.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I didn’t.” Skye confirmed, her eyes turning sad. “I got to meet you before all the torture and the chemicals, and we got along so well, you are so bright and… So alive.”

“When did you escape?” Jett pushed all feelings of sympathy away, or at least, she tried as more information was delivered to her.

“When I figured out we were disposable and we weren’t supposed to live beyond the two years it would take them to figure out how to replicate my abilities. That night I tried to bring you with me but-”

“The dogs.” Jett let out without even realizing, eyes open in surprise at her own words. “That’s when you got those scars.”

“The both of us would’ve died there if I hadn’t left; you knew how to make yourself necessary for them while I was only a nuisance for them since they got intel about a girl named Sage, who had supposedly brought someone back from the dead.” Skye smiled sadly, knowing the price she really had to pay by leaving Jett behind. “You made me promise you that I would comeback, that I wouldn’t die and we would see each other again.”

“That I would be the wind that guided you back home.” Jett continued, and she surprised herself by letting the tug on her heart take the best of her and wince on an invisible pain.

A long, silent pause made them aware of the situation they had gotten themselves into, and at some point Skye had gathered enough strength to pull herself up and sit, reaching out with her hand to clean some blood that Jett hadn’t noticed coming out from her nose.

“It’s the withdrawal symptoms.” She softly explained. “They had you for years on that, it’s designed to make you think you’ll die if you don’t keep taking a constant dose; I assume you brought some with you.”

“Enough for seventy-two hours.” Jett replied, letting the woman tend to her bleeding even though she was the one that was nearly lethally wounded. “I already skipped a dose.”

“I bet the memories are painful.”

“You have no idea.”

The contact would’ve made her pull back immediately under common circumstances, she was well aware of the dangers of the touch, she had been taught about it but for every second that passed it made more sense to let it happen, like it was supposed to be like that; there where flashes of lingering touches and secrets whispered behind crate deposits back on the base, but she still wasn’t sure how much of it was her mind making up scenarios because of the lack of physical comfort she had received over her life or her actual memory slowly coming back as every gesture and word coming from the redhead triggered more.

“Why would they send me if there was a risk of me… Doing this.” Jett voiced out, and Skye smiled bitterly, like the answer was obvious enough but the white-haired girl just couldn’t see it.

“Emotions are dangerous, Jett, they fuel both the best and the worst in people; they knew of your attachment to me, and they were certain it was mutual. Even if you didn’t remember it clearly, there would be always a part of you, deep inside that resented me for leaving you behind; they used this as a fuel for you to work more viciously, they hoped you’d want to take revenge. There’s a thin line between love and hate, after all, and we danced around it the whole time we spent inside Kingdom.”

Looking at her own hands in an attempt to ground herself, Jett found more and more logic on her statements; if she was lying, she had to be one of the most wicked and cruel people she had ever met, because she was getting more comfortable with the idea of them knowing each other so intimately before her memories blurred to the point they were almost unrecognizable.

“I loved you.” Jett concluded, looking at her own fingers tense and get loose as she made fists.

“You did.” Skye nodded, putting a blanket around her own shoulders, and giving a thoughtful glance to the fire. “And, I’m not going to lie, I had hope you still did.”

“I don’t really feel anything like that anymore.” Jett answered after giving it a bit of thought.

“Yeah, I’m aware of the effects of the serum on the long turn; it can mess with your brain real bad.” Skye explained, again trying for physical comfort as she brought a hand to the side of Jett’s face and waited until she leaned her head on it. “But something tells me it’s not entirely irreversible.”

“But why?” Jett closed her eyes, pondering for a minute before continuing. “Why would I want to go back to something that hurt me so much; I’m an elite soldier, I’m the best of Kingdom now and they need me more. Why would you care after so long? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“As I said before, I made a promise and I kept it. You have the last word here and while there’s nothing I’d want more than to have you back with me and take you as far away as I can from all of this, I can really drag you away from something you might still want.” A brief pause brought Skye into a state where she could really stop and recognize the feelings, and while she thought it was childish to still keep being the same, she firmly believed it was worth to have a second chance even when the whole world stood against it. “And if you ask about the reasons why I still care, I wouldn’t be able to describe it in another way that wasn’t this searing fire; it burns but it’s not painful; necessary, like the air. I am still here, caring, because even after so long it’s not difficult to feel like a kid again, because my heart still beats faster when I look at you and you seem to be lost in thought.”

“Skye-”

“Just, please let me say it before I lose what might be the last chance. I wont say I know what you’ve been through, it’s not my place to pretend I understand the pain and the need you might have felt… But Gods, trust me, if I could show you the thinnest silver thread to something else, it’d all be worth it, even if you don’t stay with me; I might have left you behind, yes, but I left a big part of me with you. Jett, if I am to leave this place, dead or alive, please let me have back what you took; because I still feel the same, like you still have it on your hands.”

“What?”

“My heart.”

Blinking twice, Jett pushed away the tugging on her chest, foreign like everything else she had felt since she put foot on this damned place; the bitter taste on the back of her throat made her uncomfortable, but grounded her enough to physically show what the words were doing to her. Like it was hard to breathe, she ran her fingers down her own neck, as if it would make the air flow more easier; and while she avoided to do so the whole time, she found herself looking into her eyes. Looking for any kind of doubt, anything.

“I hate it.” She ended up blurting out, a wince on her face like it was causing her pain. “I hate that I look at you and the only thing I want to do is cry.”

Doing what she did best, she slipped away from the danger and stood up from the chair, being foolish enough to turn her back on the woman she knew -she hoped- she shouldn’t trust; the touch of her fingers still burned the skin on her face, and she would’ve wanted to scream back at her, something that hurt her enough to stop trying to pull at her heartstrings; nothing came to her mind and she just sank into the sands of her own hatred. The thoughts ran fast, the words, no much; her fingers trembled, eager to grab something sharp and just damage whatever she could; her lungs heavy, her tongue numb… And the screaming in her head, she couldn’t find a way to stop the screaming.

Sharp, painful.

Suffocating.

Until it wasn’t.

Until it relented.

Until she could breathe again.

Until she felt strong arms surrounding her and bringing her back to the earth she was flying away from, finding herself sobbing, small as a child; she fought it all away, and she kicked until she had no energy left; she clawed and bit, she howled and tensed. But all through that, all through hell, Skye still held her until the both of them ended up in the floor, clinging onto each other like the world was going to end if they didn’t. The redhead told things she couldn’t understand into her hair, and she whispered so softly it felt like the caress on her arms, holding her back so she wouldn’t harm herself.

Jett whined against the cloth of her shirt, gasping for the air she just now was starting to experience when it all came back like a wave; with a grunt, Skye ignored all pain to keep her safe, holding the back of her back of her head against her chest and hummed the same lullabies that put her to sleep when the nights on the labs became too much. The recognition triggered a response on the white-haired woman, and she sank into the embrace, full on sobs becoming whimpering and then slight tremors the redhead fought away just by being there.

She stayed for all those years she couldn’t.

“I followed the star every night.”

“I know.”

“Like you told me to… Until I forgot.” Jett croaked out. “That’s why you wouldn’t find me.”

“I found you.”

“You found me.”

A gentle kiss on the top of her head, and Skye’s hands eased the tension on her muscles, pulling out the last of her from the panic attack until she could see again, and she could feel the tips of her fingers again; neither of them moved from their position, and Skye fought her own pain away until the woman in her arms turned and hugged her softly, hiding her face on her neck. She gave her time to get used to the contact and only then she spoke again, reassuring her every move until Jett was brave enough to look at her.

And damned all things, Skye fell in love all over again when she whispered a tiny **_sorry_** in her mother language.

“It’s okay, you’re here, we are here… Take your time.” Skye reassured, grabbing Jett’s wrist softly to take the knife from her hands, since the woman didn’t seem to notice when she had actually picked it back.

Jett reached to touch Skye’s face softly, and she traced her cheekbone until she reached a loose strand of hair, tentatively touching it before the redhead pressed her cheek against her hand and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. The contact ignited the light hiding inside her blood, and it guided her back to the life she once knew besides her; she held her look when the storm behind her eyes subsided, and the wind under her wings became merciful to her wishes, her hopes.

Out of an impulse, an old bodily memory, Jett placed her pinky finger on the redhead’s forehead, running it down slowly until she finished her nose and met her lips.

A smile told her Skye recognized the gesture too.

“It’s okay.” She nodded. “You’ve always been a tactile person; it helped you understand things better than most.”

“It’s like you know more about me than myself.”

“I only knew the girl I left behind, and while there’s still a bit of her in you, I have yet to meet _you_.”

“Does it make you feel bad? That I forgot about you?”

“For a second, it did, but maybe it’s my chance to do things better.”

“What are we even going to do? This changes everything… It’s fucked up.” Jett sighed, eyes still fixated on the green ones; she couldn’t even bring herself to think about Kingdom too much, not when she was re-meeting her safe space. She was bringing her hand to her own head but Skye held it again and looked at the watch on her wrist, humming softly in agreement and understanding.

They had less than forty-five hours. 

“I can take you out of this, and you know it, Jett.” Skye assured, voice still soft. “Just say the word and you won’t have to go back there again.”

“Do you really want to risk being followed and tracked for ever just for me?”

“I think I’ve managed well enough these past years.” The redhead explained, both of them moving to get up from the floor, and when she saw Jett fidgeting, she pulled her close back to the bed. “Hole on my side and everything.” She had the nerve to joke, and Jett bit the inside of her cheek guiltily until her frown was undone by the playful touch of Skye’s finger.

Questioning herself about things that completely escaped the notion Skye had about her state of mind, Jett convinced herself that for the last time, she could keep herself in brand and just let everything screw over and be over with it; since pride was the only thing she could cling onto while on Kingdom, she could keep being that persona and think herself over them and what they could do to them if they were to found out what transpired in the lonely cabin in the forest.

She frowned when she realized how easily was for her mind to adapt to that new reality, the new possibility that included Skye on it; it took her aback, but the pleasing tingle on her stomach made her instincts say it was, maybe, the best decision she could take now that the cage was being open and her feathers were being rustled by the breeze.

“I don’t want to talk about them though.” Skye told her, looking at the roof while laying down to give Jett some space. “It is you the one I care about.”

“I think I loved you once.” Jett said out of the blue, raising her hand to stop her when Skye seemed like she wanted to speak against it. “And if I did, everything I did while I work for them makes sense. We’ll still be tied to them, even if we run, even if we fight, but I think the things I did opened a door we could use.”

Skye looked at the dents on the roof, processing the information she had just received; of course she had hoped for the best outcome but she couldn’t help but feel hurt by the past tense on Jett’s words. Maybe the price to pay had been too high, but she convinced herself about how worth It was when she was reminded of the very living and kicking woman besides her, whom she was surprised to find staring at her. Skye opened her mouth to say something but Jett shook her head, a little frown letting her know she was focused on something in her mind; the redhead gave her time to think, so the silence suddenly became their most loyal companion.

Jett thought about her actual chances to make it outside Kingdom; she was an assassin, and after all the time the only thing she was certain about was death and how to bring it to her enemies or whoever that crossed her path. For a moment she tried to imagine how it’d be to live outside those laboratories and military bases, how would it be for her to have a life on the other side, stop claiming lives to herself and maybe start saving them.

Of course she’d heard about the Valorant Protocol and what they were doing, heck, they were the nuisance she had to take out on the daily to get her superiors approval; her commander had even offered her a raise in rank if she successfully brought Thorn and Pandemic back to the base. But all of that seemed so far away now that she was centimeters away from someone that somehow meant something for her.

It was confusing at times.

“I’ll take down my supervising agents.” She said out of nowhere, easily getting the redhead’s attention. “I’ve been subversive before; it won’t be that weird so that’s my plan when the time runs out and they come back for me. You can go south from here and I’ll meet you there and they won’t know immediately that I failed my mission, I don’t know, maybe they’ll think I’m taking my time on the hunt and these people were interrupting me.”

“Are you sure you want to leave now, with me?” Skye told her, holding onto her wounded side so she could turn and look at Jett more properly. “I could make it all happen for you, and there’s no need for you to stick with me… It’s you who matters the most right now.”

“We both know it’s not what you want… Skye.” Jett replied, looking into her eyes with a purpose. “And if I’m to be honest with myself, I feel more comfortable with the idea of having you around.”

Skye didn’t force her to say anything else, and just nodded her understanding, letting Jett set her own pace by closing the distance between them; the Korean girl placed her forehead against hers, and it seemed like it was her go to comfort touch. The redhead just allowed herself to enjoy the touch while it lasted, closing her eyes when Jett’s nose made contact with her cheek and she felt her warm breath on her lips.

“Would you mind?” Jett asked, eyes open as she saw the freckles on Skye’s skin making the whole image of her somehow more attractive for her; not entire sure abut her own feelings, she barely waited for a nod before going forwards and pressing her lips against the redhead’s. Not really a kiss, since she only wanted to feel what the contact was like and she barely moved as the seconds passed, but it had indeed sparked something inside when she pulled back and the slight movement told her Skye was following her mouth.

For some reason it made her smile.

“Wow.” Jett said softly, eyes fixated on Skye’s tongue, that slipped from her lips to wet them. Skye breathed out, a little frown on her face as she refused to open her eyes and face the reality they had gotten themselves into.

But Jett had to, so she just stayed quiet after that and leaned forward again, and this time there was some recognition in the movements that came after; and she supported herself on her elbows besides Skye so she could hover and search for her mouth, this time letting her lips dance over the expanse of her skin. Not wanting to force anything beyond that, Skye kept her hands to herself as she kissed Jett back, sighing against her mouth when one of her hands found the side of her neck and held her there.

It was surprisingly not as awkward as they would’ve expected, shifting their positions to be able to keep at their kissing and Jett’s exploration of the once familiar affection of Skye; the white-haired girl accommodated herself on top of one of her thighs and traced a road with her lips on Skye’s cheekbone, bringing her hands down to meet the rough ones of the woman that hadn’t forgotten about her even though years had passed by.

Through the minutes the spark on her stomach developed into a full flame as she placed her hands on Skye shoulders and felt the muscle under her touch tighten in reaction; with nothing to compare the feeling to, Jett could only associate it with hunger and need for more of the same, or maybe something else she couldn’t figure out since she hadn’t really experienced anything like it. And though the redhead found it endearing, she calmed down the other woman’s energy and held her by the waist, making her react and sit back on her legs.

“Oh.” Was what Jett apologetically said, scrunching her nose when the sensation traveled somewhere else.

And Skye seemed to notice, since she started to remove her hands only for Jett to held her by the wrists and place them back where they were; there was some sort of mutual understanding then, and Skye sat up with a bit of difficulty to held her tightly once Jett was fully sat on her lap. Her unsteady breathing tickled the side of her face and she buried her nose on the white-haired woman’s neck to take on her smell as her hips shifted.

And Jett repeated the movement again, this time grinding down on her and pulling out a groan from Skye’s throat; still holding back, the redhead let it all happen, whispering sweet encouragements into her ear so they both could forget what was happening beyond those walls and enjoy the safety of the small cocoon of her bodies. Not even sure where the impulse to do that had come from, Jett let the burning sensation on her core drive her and kept moving herself against the taller woman, holding back all the noises because she was sure it would prevent her to continue if Skye stopped her to ask if everything was okay.

Taking her lips on her own again, the redhead held the body of her love like it was a wounded bird, delicate and thoughtful as she pleased her desires with open mouthed kisses on the soft skin of her neck and tiny caresses on Jett’s lower back, making her feel safe enough to keep going and satisfy herself further.

“I need- Fuck…” Jett breathed out, clawing at Skye arms because she couldn’t express herself properly beyond giving one of her wrists a tug and bring her to her own stomach. “Please.”

Looking for any trace of doubt left in her face, Skye gave her lips a last kiss before she pulled the front of Jett’s pants and undid the zipper.

She found heaven once she sank into her, welcoming warmth embraced her fingers as she let herself leave what she had dreamed of for so long; she had to keep still for a while to let it all sink in, overwhelmed by the sensation, Skye found herself unable to move and had to keep it all to herself so Jett had to move over her, holding tight onto her shoulders and riding the waves of affection that pulled her down her ocean.

If there was something like love, this was probably it.

Not even sure about the amount of time spent there, holding the object of her affections, Skye smiled against her neck when she felt her shiver and whimper in pleasure; giving a small kiss to her pulse point she encouraged her until the small sounds became more audible and Skye herself found ecstasy in the look Jett gave her before coming undone in her arms, tightening around her fingers like it was impossible to let her go.

Giving a last, caring kiss on her lips, Skye let Jett rest on her shoulder and removed her hand from her pants, cleaning it up on the bedcovers before hugging the woman in her arms and looking through one of the windows of the lonely cabin; she could only see the white of the snow and the possibilities for them from that moment.

She was sure of one thing though, and that was the woman on her arms being the sole thing she could bring the world to an end for.

“I won’t let you go again, I promise.” She whispered into her hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything so you won’t have to be alone anymore. I’ll get us out of here and we can go off the grid, I know the people and I’m owed a couple favors; you’re strong enough, I know, we’ll get out of this together.”

More to convince herself that the woman on her arms, who had apparently fallen asleep out of exhaustion, Skye silently cried while clinging onto her; knowing that while the future was uncertain, there was still promises to keep and damn the world if she wasn’t going to fulfill each one of them. For her.

“Don’t worry Selina” Jett said sleepily as she snuggled to her. “We will.”

For her little bird.


End file.
